REMOVED: Cheese Society Cafe

The cafe is very small, cramped and uncomfortable; the menu is uninspiring; the atmosphere is dull and lifeless; the service is not friendly or particularly welcoming; and shockingly of all: the cafe (a day time cafe that closes at 4.30pm) bans children under 10. Quite ridiculous if it wasn't so offensive.

This is a little cafe and neither a bistro nor a restaurant. I ate here many times before they banned children.

The food is ok and I used to like eating there for the cheese focus. It's not the best though and I've had better cheese dishes in many non-cheese restaurants. The fondue, for example, lacks the richness and kick that one would expect in a good Swiss restaurant. There are much better cafes, bistros and restaurants in Lincoln however, all of which welcome children.

The cafe lacks atmosphere and the decor is bland and not designed to make you want to linger.

My daughter (now 8) has eaten at Locanda Locatelli, Pierre Koffman's & Richard Corrigan's Bentleys (Oyster Bar) (amongst others in London and Paris) and has always been welcomed.

It is really important that people and organisations in the UK get the message that it is perverse to discriminate against children (and women and parents) and this discrimination is a destructive force in our society.

Visited this heaven for anyone who loves cheese. Food was excellent and service excellent. Did have to wait for a table but they gave has drinks and we could sit and read whilst waiting. Unlike previous reviewer we did not have any problem with identifying vegetarian dishes

I recently went to the Cheese Society for lunch with friends for my birthday. The cafe was busy and we had a short wait for a table, but this was no problem as there was a comfortable waiting area and we were served drinks.

Overall, the staff were very friendly (aside from the incident mentioned below !), however the service felt a little disjointed at times, despite the cafe quietening down. We had arrived at the tail end of the lunchtime rush.

Upon first glance the restaurant seemed to have a good range of Vegetarian and more impressively, Gluten Free dishes.

Closer inspection revealed however that they had labelled dishes containing fish as being vegetarian. When my strictly vegetarian friend questioned the manager about this, she became incredibly defensive about "some vegetarians eating fish" and refused to accept that this was a rather ambiguous / incorrect use of the term "Vegetarian" on the menu!

On the basis of this conversation, I was left feeling rather uncertain with respect to the accuracy of the labelling at all. This was a very real health concern for one member of my group who required gluten free food.

Overall, the cafe itself is ok but nothing special, however I'm unlikely to eat there again or purchase their products.

I don't feel able to trust the menu, and the determined defence I was met with when my friend challenged the labelling pushed all of the wrong buttons I'm afraid...

Located top of the High Street, just before the streets leading up to the old part of town.

http://www.heureka.clara.net/lincolnshire/

I have never eaten in the restaurant, but I have sampled and bought some of their excellent cheeses.

I tried Colston Basset Stilton a Blue Stilton, also Lincolnshire Poacher a cheddar type cheese.

Also worth obtaining if you pay a visit, is the Cheese Society Handbook, a very useful guide to cheeses.

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/5849584